A UCLA runner was dismissed Monday from the cross country and track and field team after a video of him making racist, sexist and homophobic comments surfaced on social media platforms.
In the video, Chris Weiland, a graduate of Rancho Cucamonga High School, was speaking with his mother on the phone while making the remarks.
“When first learning of this a few months ago, I was disgusted and immediately suspended him indefinitely from the team,” Avery Anderson, UCLA’s director of Track and Field and Cross Country who is black, said in a statement that was reported by the Los Angeles Daily News. “Even in my disgust, as a coach, my intentions are always to lead and educate and make the change happen that I want to see in this world.
“I can talk about changing the world, or I can put in the work to do so. And that is what I have done over the last few months with this individual.”
Anderson made the decision to reinstate Weiland back in January but met resistance from team members and the athletic community.
UCLA’s Black Student-Athlete Alliance issued a statement on Monday on Instagram asking for Weiland to be removed from the team.
“As a university that champions itself on the accomplishments of its Black athletes that have broken the barriers of social justice, we find it deeply disturbing to learn that UCLA knew about an incident of blatant racism, homophobia and sexism and did very minimal actions about it. The racist actions that took place by a member of the cross country team, are unacceptable and disrespectful, and we at BSAA refuse to accept the actions of that athlete, as well as the lack of action to address the issue by the coaches, staff and administration. We do not feel safe with this person on campus, and we demand UCLA athletics take action immediately and remove this student from the team.”
Weiland’s name and biography were removed from the university’s website.
